The Men Who Hurt Their Lovers
by The Most Awesome Person Ever
Summary: Two secondary characters from "Fourth State of Matter" and "Grammar Lessons" talk at a bar with a character from Axis Powers Hetalia.


**Hey! It's another thing I did for my English class! My teacher was pretty cool and let us write anything we wanted. The assignment was to take a couple of characters from two of the four readings that we had, and have those characters interact and speak about an important aspect that was addressed in either story where one of the character originates. I thought it was a pretty cool assignment. I chose two secondary characters that actually don't really interact at all in their originating stories and gave more insight on what could've happened for both characters to change from the beginning of the original stories to the end of their original stories. The two stories are "The Fourth State of Matter" by Jo Ann Beard and "Grammar Lessons" by an author whose name escapes me at the moment. They are both really good reads and I highly recommend reading both!**

**And as a side note: I based the bartender on a character from the anime/manga Axis Powers Hetalia! Can you guess who it is? Anyways, please enjoy!**

**The men who hurt their lovers (**_**The fourth state of matter**_** and **_**Grammar lessons)**_

**Mr. Beard: **_(The man walks out of a bar and sits on a bench alone on a moonless night . His hands shake slightly as he slowly buries his face in his hands.)_Jo… I'm so sorry,_(He shakes his head.)_No! No! No! I was right to leave!_(The man chokes out a drunken sob and covers his face again.) _I just don't know._(He pulls out his cell phone only to get the answering machine again.)_Please? I think I might be freaking out. Am I ruining my life here, or what? Am I making a mistake? Jo?_(With that, the man hangs up and wipes the tears from his eyes.)_I need another drink…_(He finds the next bar and orders a shot of whiskey.)_

_**Moments Later: Another man takes a seat at the bar next to Mr. Beard. This new man looks pretty depressed and orders a drink in horrible Spanish.**_

**Mr. Beard: **_(Frowning) _Hey can't you leave a man to his miseries and sit somewhere else?

**Depressed boyfriend:** _(Mumbles) _Sorry…. _(He starts to leave the bar when the bartender slides him his hard liquor.)_

**Bartender:** Don't mind the poor drunk señor; He's just having some lady issues. (The man sits back down and sighs, downing the drink in one go.) Not too fast, don't want you ending up like the fellow next to you.

**Mr. Beard:** H-hey! You still haven't answered me! Was I right or wrong to leave!

**Bartender:** I don't know señor, you still haven't told me where or what you left.

**Depressed boyfriend: **_(looking down at his empty glass) _Leaving…. _(Sighs)_

**Mr. Beard:** MY WIFE! _(Slams his fists into the table)_

**Bartender:** Hey, just calm down, yes?

**Mr. Beard:** (Grumbles and takes another sip of his drink noticing the depressed man next to him) so what's gotten you in the shitter?

**Depressed boyfriend:** ….

**Mr. Beard:** Hey! I'm talking to you!

**Depressed boyfriend:** What? _(Still looking down at his empty glass)_

**Mr. Beard:** What's your deal? You're still young!

**Depressed boyfriend:** _(sighs) _I don't care anymore. _(Orders another drink)_

**Mr. Beard:** _(blinks feeling his fatherly instincts come forth) _now lad, what's got you so upset? _(Laughs) _At least you're not some idiot like me!

**Depressed boyfriend:** …._ (remains silent for a few moments and then speaks quietly) _At least you're not the cause of everyone's suffering….

**Mr. Beard:** _(Sighs)_ maybe not everyone. I don't even know if my wife even cares about my existence anymore. _(Takes a drink)_ Not that she shouldn't hate me.

**Depressed boyfriend:** Well, at least she's your wife.

**Bartender:** Ah, seems like you both have issues with the women; here, (_hands the depressed boyfriend his drink_) so you've got wife issues, (_nods to Mr. Beard) _and you've got girlfriend issues I presume? (_Nods to the depressed boyfriend)_ Maybe you two can talk this out, yes?

**Mr. Beard:** Great idea!

**Depressed boyfriend:** …sure.

**Mr. Beard:** So, young man; what's bothering you?

**Depressed boyfriend:** Since you're so up to this idea, why don't you go first?

**Mr. Beard:** _(takes a long drink from his glass and signals for another drink) _My wife Jo, _(sighs)_ I don't expect you to understand this.

**Depressed boyfriend:** Yeah, yeah; get on with it.

**Mr. Beard:** So there's this guy at her work, Chris, or whatever.

**Bartender:** An affair! That explains things, (_shakes his head, placing Mr. Beard's refill on the table)_

**Mr. Beard:** No! (_Flustered, but calms down feeling a bit dizzy from the alcohol) _At least I don't think so. I mean, the guy goes all over the world and buys her presents! And all she can ever talk about is him and his family! And she spends all of her time at work with him! It's so frustrating! (_Sighs) _So I just left. Just like that. Gone. And now I feel like crap every time I even decide to go out and do something.

**Bartender:** Ah, you still love your wife.

**Mr. Beard:** I don't know. I end up getting drunk and calling her every time I feel guilty for leaving, asking if it was the right thing to do.

**Depressed boyfriend:** _(suddenly interrupts)_ But don't you think that's just hurting her more! _(Both of the older men turn to look at him causing the depressed boyfriend to blush) _I mean, she's still your wife right?

**Bartender:** The young lad has a point. What if she just needed a good friend and Chris happened to be that person? When's the last time you took your wife somewhere?

**Mr. Beard:** I don't remember. _(Pushes away his drink)_ I've been a terrible husband. I should go back and sort things out. _(Stands up)_

**Bartender:** But wait señor! What about this young lad here?

**Mr. Beard: **Oh, yeah… I forgot. I'm sorry.

**Depressed boyfriend:** It's fine, there's no hope for me.

**Bartender:** Yes there is! There's always hope! It's obvious that you're feeling guilty about something. So spit it out!

**Depressed boyfriend:** I… (_Takes a deep breath)_ I have issues, and I'm starting to think that I'm hurting my girlfriend because of it.

**Mr. Beard:** So that explains the outburst earlier….

**Depressed boyfriend:** Yeah… it just sometimes I get really down, like I'm drowning and when I reach up; there she is. But instead of pulling me out, I end up dragging her down. And sometimes, I think that if I were to disappear, she would be happier.

**Bartender:** Well that's not true!

**Depressed boyfriend:** How do you know?

**Mr. Beard:** _(answers for the bartender)_ Well, she's trying to help you right?

**Depressed boyfriend:** Yeah?

**Bartender:** Then it's obvious that she cares about you! If she didn't, she wouldn't waste her time trying to help. How long have you been together?

**Depressed boyfriend:** For a while now.

**Bartender:** Then like our friend here, _(gestures to Mr. Beard) _both of your sweethearts still care for you. If this man's wife didn't still love him, she would've blocked his number by now. And if your girlfriend didn't care for you, she would've ended it by now.

Depressed boyfriend: I guess you're right…

**Mr. Beard:** You gotta have more confidence than that kid! If you really care for this girl, you gotta place some effort into the relationship as well!

Bartender: Exactly!

**Mr. Beard:** And I see that now! I wasn't treating my wife like I should. No wonder she was so lonely! _(Pats the depressed boyfriend on the back)_ I bet, if we do our part, we can save both of our relationships.

**Depressed boyfriend:** Are you sure?

**Bartender:** Of course señor! The only reason why you end up dragging her down with you is because you're not kicking your feet!

**Depressed boyfriend:** _(smiles)_ Thank you, I'll try to do my part.

**Mr. Beard:** Yeah, thanks man; you helped me a lot too. (_Pays his bill) _I have a plane to catch!

**Depressed boyfriend:** I need to get back to my girlfriend; I said I was going to a movie. She must be worried sick.

**Bartender:** Take good care of yourselves! And be sure to drop by in the near future!

**END**

**Thank you for reading! Did you guess who the Bartender is? That's right! It's Antonio! Whoot! Anyways, I really hoped you liked it! And I'm almost done with the second chapter of Such Beauty in Despair! And I promise! It's going to be about 2,000 words give or take a little bit! My first chapter was way short . But there's also a new character in the second chapter! See y'all soon!**

**With Awesome Love,**

**The Most Awesome Person Ever**


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